Axle-box.



No. 813,962. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906. J. R. FLEMING.

AXLE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APB.17, 1905.

imlllll" lm/en or UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

Application filed April 17,1905. Serial No. 255,916.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES R. FLEMING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Axle-Boxes, of

p which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in axle-boxes adapted for use in connection with mine cars and trucks, and more especially to improvements in the axle-box shown and described in my Letters Patent N 0. 752,897, dated February 23, 1904. In the axle-box as shown and described in my said Letters Patent the line of attachment of the lubricant-holding member to the bracket lies in the horizontal plane which passes through the center of the axle, and I have found in practice that when this lubricant-receptacle becomes filled or choked with oil above this point the oil works its way out through the joint between the receptacle and the bracket, resulting in wastage of the oil and an objectionable drip from the axle-box.

The object of my present invention is therefore to overcome this objectionable feature and to provide an axle-box embodying my improvements which may be applied either to cars wherein the wheels are loosely mounted upon the axles or where the wheels are rigidly attached to the axles.

Further improvements will be hereinafter described, and pointed out more particularly in the claims.

I attain my object by the construction and arrangement of the several parts of the axle-box, as hereinafter described, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a partial view of a car wheel and axle with my improved axle-box applied thereto and shown in transverse section on the line 1 y in Fig. 4; Fig. 2, an outside end view of the axle-box; Fig. 3, an end view of one-half of the bracket with the other parts of the axle-box removed; Fig. 4, a plan view of the axle-box; Fig. 5, a longitudinal crosssection on the line a: at in Fig. 4 Fig. 6, a side view of the journal-block; Fig. 7, a side view of the axle-box complete as applied where the wheel is rigidly attached to the axle; Fig. 8, a similar view of the axle-box as applied where the wheel is loosely mounted upon the axle, as in my said Letters Patent; Fig. 9, a plan view of the lubricant-holding member of the axle-box; and Fig. 10, an inner end view of one-half of the axle-box.

Like numerals refer to like parts in the several views.

In Fig. 1 I have shown loosely mounted upon the axle 1 a car-wheel having a lubricant-holding chamber in its hub 20, as described in my said Letters Patent. 3 represents a bracket, the horizontal member of which is adapted to be secured to the under side of the side sill of a mine-car or the like, to which it is secured by means of bolts passed through the holes 4 4. Along the inner edge of the horizontal member of the bracket is an upturned flange 5, which lies against the inner side of the car-sill when the bracket is in place, and a transverse rib 6 at the center enshifting on the sill. Upon the under side of .the horizontal member of the bracket are depending transverse and longitudinal ribs 15 and 16, adapted to engage the sides and outer end of the journal-block 8 to hold said block in its central position with reference to the bracket. The sides of the journal-block are rabbeted to receive the transverse ribs 15, as shown at 17 in Fig. 6, and in order to prevent end play of the j ournal-block with reference to the bracket I may provide lugs 18, adapted to enter notches in the ribs 15. (Not shown.) The inner end of the journal-block is provided with a half-sleeve 9, which projects into the annular lubricant-chamber formed in the wheel-hub, where the wheel is loosely mounted upon the axle. This j ournal-block willbe cast from any suitable metal, and I preferably run in between it and the axle a lining of Babbitt or other suitable antifriction metal.

The lubricant-holding member comprises a casting 7, having a cylindrical bottom with vertical sides and outer end. The sides are carried up to the under side of the horizontal member of the bracket and at their upper edges are providedwith outturned tongues 11, adapted to engage grooves 12, formed between the horizontal member and the vertical members of the bracket 3. The bottom of the lubricant-holding member is dropped be low the axle, with an inturned flange at the inner end curved to fit one-half of the axle, and when applied to axles whereon the wheel is also revoluble it is provided with a halfsleeve 10, adapted to enter the lubricantchamber in the wheel-hub. The lubricantholding member is also provided with inset ledges 22 to engage the lower edges of the journal-block sides.

In assembling the parts the journal-block will be placed in position upon the axle and the bracket 3 placed with its ribs 15 and 16 embracing the top of the block. The lubricant-holding member 7 will then be slid into place with its sides between the vertical members of the bracket and the journal-block and will be fastened in place by means of the split pins 13, which pass through holes in the horizontal member of the bracket, outside of the car-sill, and through corresponding ears 14, formed on the member 7. Waste or other oil absorbent may be placed in this lubricantholding member around the axle, and the lubricant-holding chamber of the member 7 may be filled from time to time with oil through the opening 19. As the axle and wheel revolve the oil will lubricate the axle where it revolves in contact with the journalblock and will work its way through the sleeves 9 and 10 into the lubricant-chamber in the wheel-hub, thereby lubricating the bearing between wheel and axle. The top surface of the journal-block is slightly curved, and the under edges of the sides of the journal-block are also curved, as at 21, thereby permitting said block to rock in its bearings in the bracket and in the member 7 when the car-axles are thrown out of horizontal alinement by unevenness in the road-bed.

In many mine-cars and cars of similar type the wheels are rigidly attached to the axle, and the lubricating-chamber in the wheel-hub is not required. Where such is the case my improved axle-box may also be applied by leaving off thesleeves 9 and 10 from the journal-block and lubricant-holding member, as shown in the side view of the axle-box in Fig. 7.

By this construction the joint between the lubricant-holding member and the bracket is carried above the axle, thereby preventing any leakage of oil through the joint. Moreover, since the sides of the lubricant-holding member are brought up between the vertical members of the bracket and the sides of the journal-block the proper alinement of these several parts of the axle-box will be insured while subjected to pulling strains when the car is in motion.

The lubricant-holding member has its outer end positioned beyond the end of the axle and also beyond the journal-block in order that ample provision may be made for waste and lubricant around the axle and also in order that oil may be run in from time to time through the opening 19 at the top of this outer end of the lubricant-holding member. It is therefore essential that the horizontal member of the bracket shall be provided on its under side with means for holding the journal-block from outward movement. For this purpose I provide the longitudinal rib 16 on the under surface of said horizontal member. I may, however, dispense with the transverse ribs 15 without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my improvements, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An axle-box comprisim a bracket having a horizontal member adapted to be attached to a car-sill and having vertical transverse brace members depending therefrom to a level adjacent to the axle center, a separate journal-block positioned beneath the horizontal member, said member being provided with means on its under side for holdin said block against outward movement,- a ubricant-holding member having its outer end positioned beyond the journal-block and having vertical sides adapted to slide in between the brace members of the bracket and the sides of the journal-block, said sides and outer end of the lubricant-holding member being carried above the axle-bearing, and means for attaching the lubricant-holding member to the bracket.

2. Anaxle-box comprising a bracket having a horizontal member adapted to be attached to a car-sill, a separate journal-block positioned beneath the horizontal member, said member being provided with a longitudinal rib depending therefrom to engage the outer end of said block at the top, and a lubricant-holding member having vertical sides embracing the sides of the journal-block, said sides being carried up to the top of the journalblock where they are provided with tongues, and said horizontal member of the bracket being provided with grooves on the under side thereof to receive said tongues.

3. An axle-box comprising a bracket having a horizontal member adapted to be attached to a car-sill, a separate journal-block positioned beneath the horizontal member, said member being provided with means on its under side for holding said block against outward movement, a lubricantholding member having vertical sides embracing the sides of the journal-block, said sides being carried up to the top of the j ournal-block and being provided with inset ledges to engage and support the under sides of the journalblock, and means for attaching the lubricantholding member to the bracket.

4. The combination, with an axle, a carwheel loosely mounted thereon, the hub of said wheel having an annular lubricant-holding chamber, and a journal-block having a half-sleeve projecting into said chamber, of an axle-box comprising a bracket havin a horizontal member adapted to be attache to a car-sill, said horizontal member being provided with means for holdin the journalblock in place, a lubricant-hdlding member havingahalf-sleeve projectinginto thewheel- In testimony whereof I have afiixed my hub chamber and havin1 vergioalfsifies and signature in presence of two Witnesses. an outer end embraein t e si es 0 t e journa1b10ck and inclosing the outer end of the JAMES FLEMING 5 axle, said sides and outer end being carried I Witnesses:

above the axle, and means for attaching the i DANIEL G. GELBERT, lubricant-holding member to the bracket. FRED E. BEERS. 

